Steven Universe - Crumbling
by Reploid7
Summary: The Gems, after successfully completing a mission, lose the very Gem artifact they had risked themselves to retrieve. Now it lies in Beach City and there's no telling what could happen. Put on hold so that I can focus on other stories. My most sincere apologies, everyone.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – It's An Intro! :D

Steven roamed the temple, shuffling through the many rooms for anything he might deem interesting. He invited Connie over earlier to hang out, and lucky him, she accepted, considering she still had a few more weeks left over of summer vacation before she had to go back to school.

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were out on a mission again yesterday and had yet to return. Something about a super special pendant or whatever? Steven had trouble remembering at the moment. He was too busy thinking of what he and Connie would do when she got there.  
"Come on, come on," Steven whined. At this rate, he wouldn't have anything good to do with Connie. A melodic ring pierced the silence of his solitude. That familiar ring could only mean that the Crystal Gems were back. He ran out into the living room and saw his three guardians stepping off of a platform.

Pearl was arguing with Amethyst about being more cautious in the future, with Amethyst simply responding with plugging her ears with her fingers. This only made Pearl more irritated.  
Garnet approached Steven, ignoring her two partners. She kneeled down in front of Steven and handed him a small red geode. "It was full of these, so we thought we'd grab one for you," she said. The rock was well appreciated, as stuff like this was sort of the perk of being left behind by the Gems when they went on missions.

"Maybe I can show this to Connie," Steven beamed, "Oh, but maybe she'll want to hear about the mission. Can you tell me what happened?" Hearing of Connie stopped Pearl's nagging and made Amethyst unplug her ears.  
"Connie's coming over?" Pearl asked.

"Sweet! What are you planning on doing, lover boy?" Amethyst teased.

Steven grumbled, annoyed. Not by Amethyst's comment, but by the fact that, other than the souvenir he just received, he had nothing in mind. Taking too long to answer her, Amethyst chuckled.

"You've got no game, Steven."

"I do too have game," Steven replied, with absolutely no idea what the term meant.

"If you don't know what to do, why not take her to the arcade," Garnet suggested.

Pearl and Amethyst groaned at the mention of it. Last time they went to the arcade, both of them either sucked at playing the games or downright cheated and Garnet ended up completely addicted and distracted.

"Maybe you should just take her over to a restaurant or something, Steven. Fast food, maybe?" Pearl contributed. "After all, you two are pretty close. Why not act on that? Or maybe take her to the movies. I don't know what might be in, but I'm sure you'd have a good time."

Steven considered both and his face lit up as an idea came to mind. "Why don't I just do both?"

With a small smile, Garnet pet Steven's head and replied, "Wonderful idea, Steven." A knock on the door caught their attention.

Pearl, excited for Steven, ran off to open the door. Amethyst followed her, slamming into Garnet on accident, additionally taking something from her.

"Amethyst, hand the artifact over."  
"No way, I wanna hold it," she said, examining the gem closely. As soon as the door opened with Connie on the other side, Pearl grabbed the young girl's hand and ran off towards Steven. Amethyst walked outside onto the porch, promising not to lose what they searched so hard for during their mission.

"Hey Steven," Connie greeted. "What are we doing today?"

"Let's get something to eat first," he said. "We'll go to the movies after that."

Connie smiled and the two kids ran out of the house, running across the beach in the distance to get to their destination.  
Pearl smiled and watched them run along the sand and sighed. "It's so wonderful to see them happy."

"Uh-oh," Amethyst muttered.

Pearl's smile dropped as she turned to the purple Gem. "What is it?"

"I was tossing the artifact up and down, but I kinda, sorta accidentally tossed in into the city," she said with a hint of embarrassment. Her confession freaked Pearl out and it even seemed to vex Garnet.

After that, the three Gems felt a strong presence overwhelm them for a moment before the sensation vanished.  
"We need to locate the artifact as quickly as possible," Garnet said with a sense of urgency. She left the house to search for it.  
"I knew we should have bubbled that thing as soon as we got back," Pearl growled in frustration as she followed Garnet out of the house.

X—

Steven and Connie grabbed a couple of burgers with some fry bits and headed off to the movie theater. "Two tickets to Unfamiliar Familiar," Connie said. Recently, Connie's favorite book had gotten a movie adaptation and she wanted to go see it, hoping it would be as good as the books.

"I hope it's accurate," Steven said as they were handed their tickets. The kids stepped in; excited over the movie they were about to go see.

X—

Malachite laid at the bottom of the sea, entrapped and struggling against herself. She had been trapped within the depths of the sea for months and she's been attempting to free herself for a while now. Not from the sea, particularly, but from herself.

A powerful force caught the attention of Malachite's two halves. One half tore her attention from the force and separated while the other half was distracted. The giant woman split into two Gems.

Jasper and Lapis Lazuli.

The woman of water narrowed her eyes angrily at Jasper, while the latter gave a victorious grin. She kicked off the ocean floor with great force and burst from the surface of the water, leaving Lapis behind.

"I failed," Lapis lamented.

X—

Peridot was treading a dirt road that ultimately led to Beach City. It shouldn't take much longer to get there after hours of travelling. If her escape pod weren't destroyed, she wouldn't have to exhaust herself with this.

Suddenly, a powerful presence hit her. "What was that?" It seemed to have come from Beach City, her destination. The presence seemed strange, but intimidating nonetheless. However, she needed to finish her trek to the city.

X—

After the movie ended, Steven and Connie had gone on a walk through the city. "That was awesome!" Connie exclaimed. The movie was quite accurate to the source material and it was well executed.

Steven agreed and went ahead of her and stopped right in front her, taking a stance that suggested a combat sword stance. "I shall engage you here and you will never get by me, Lisa," he said, deepening his voice as he referenced the movie. The impression made Connie laugh, to which Steven followed suit shortly after.

A glimmer in the sand as they were heading to the temple caught Steven's attention, cutting his laughter short. He ran past Connie and picked it up. It was a silver chain necklace with a stepped kite-shaped cut topaz pendant at the end. "Wow!"

Connie looked at the pendant and pondered who would have something so valuable in the city. Beach City may be a vacation spot in the summer, but it was about to hit autumn right now and most of the residents there were a little too middle-class to likely have something like that.

"What would something like this be doing here?" Connie wondered.

"Maybe it washed up from the ocean," Steven wondered.  
"Well that's definitely more likely than it belonging to anyone in the city."

Steven chuckled and examined it. It looked beautiful, especially when the moonlight made it sparkle. The young boy turned to Connie and placed the pendant around her neck. "Well it looks like it belongs to you now!"

Connie held the topaz pendant up with her right hand and looked down at it. "Are you sure you want me to have it, Steven?"

He nodded his head. "Sure. Think of it as a present."

She hugged him tightly and would have liked to do so a little longer if her cell phone hadn't broken the silence. She pulled it out and opened it up and answered the call, placing the device against her ear.  
After a few brief moments, she closed the phone. "Listen, I gotta get back home. So I guess I'll see you later, Steven."

She ran off, leaving him alone on the beach. After watching her disappear into the distance for a while, he turned on his heel and headed for the temple, only to be stopped by a familiar voice calling his name. He looked around for a moment, but shrugged it off. Maybe he was just hearing things.  
"Steven!"

He looked around again as he was called again and again. Finally, his gaze was aimed at the ocean. A figure rose from the surface of the water and turned to look at him with familiar somber eyes. "Lapis?"

**Author's Note:  
And in comes another fanfiction. This time of Steven Universe.**

**I knew I loved the series ever since I watched the first few episodes. However, until just recently, the first few episodes were the ONLY episodes I'd seen. What got me to finish the first season was a bunch of fan art of Lapis Lazuli as I was going through Tumblr. The character alone was the reason I finished the first season and will additionally continuously watch the upcoming episodes.**

**As you may guess, Lapis has become my favorite Gem.**

**The idea for this fanfic came to me after I watched the episode Jail Break. I can't wait to introduce my OC for this fanfic. She'll be introduced in the next chapter, so hang tight.**

**Reploid7,**

**Signing off!**


	2. Topaz Awakens

Connie laid in bed, dreaming about magic and gems and adventure. Excitement in every turn of her slumber. On a side table next to her bed, the necklace Steven gave her was propped up against the lamp behind it.  
The gem gave off a vibrant glow and hovered off the side table. The chains broke and disintegrated as a figure emerged from the gem. A woman with long, flowing, blonde hair with a slim hourglass figure and white eyes and yellow-tinted skin with a golden, backless layered dress materialized from the gem. Connie stirred in her sleep. "Where...am I?" the woman thought aloud.  
She turned her head when she heard the bedroom door open up. Connie's parents stood at the doorway staring at the woman.  
"Who...are you? Where am I?"  
"You're in the Maheswaran residence. We LIVE here," Mr. Maheswaran said, carrying a tennis racket.  
"Honey, do not provoke her. She's standing right next to Connie," Mrs. Maheswaran said.  
"Connie?" She looked down on Connie who was beginning to wake up. "You mean this little human?" She kneeled down next to Connie's bed and brushed her hair aside. "Is this what you humans call a daughter?"  
Connie opened her eyes and looked up at the strange woman looking back at her. She saw a diamond-shaped topaz in her right shoulder. "Are you a Gem?" Connie asked with wide eyes.  
"You are correct. How do you know about Gems?"

X-

The Gems were out, leaving Steven and Lapis alone. "Lapis, are you okay?" Steven asked her.  
"I'm fine, but, Steven, Jasper and I got separated. She's on the loose somewhere," she replied, eliciting an overly dramatic gasp.  
"You need to be careful!"  
The front door opened up with Garnet entering first and Pearl and Amethyst entering next. As soon as they saw Lapis, Pearl summoned her weapon and charged, but Garnet grabbed her by the back of her outfit and lifted her off the floor. "Pearl, remember, Lapis is Steven's friend. We don't hurt Steven's friends," Garnet said.  
After Garnet dropped Pearl, she took a deep breath and apologized. Lapis just glared at Pearl and the other Crystal Gems. "Looks like little miss raindrop still doesn't like us," Amethyst said, grabbing some donuts from Steven's fridge.  
"Calm down, everyone. Let's just get along, okay?" Steven suggested. "Besides, we've got worse things to worry about. Jasper's around again."  
Pearl was stunned, the only sound Amethyst made was her loud munching, and Garnet responded by saying, "Well, that's depressing."  
"Aren't you concerned?" Lapis asked Garnet.  
"No. I beat her once, I can do it again."  
"I...see."  
A tune interrupted them and Steven pulled out his cell phone and answered it.

"Hello? Connie? What's up?" Steven became starry-eyed and said, "There's a Gem at your house?!" All the Gems turned to Steven with shock and concern on their faces. "Topaz? Oh, alright, stay right there, I'm on my way." Steven ran out the door and started running, but how would he get to Connie's house on his feet? His dad was also probably asleep by now and the boy really didn't want to bother his dad so late. Then a pink blur flashed by Steven and slid to a halt in the sand in front of him. "Lion! Hey boy, I need you to take me to Connie's, okay?"  
Lion grumbled and laid himself down so that Steven could climb on. The Crystal Gems were right behind him, trying to catch him before he could go. Lion roared and a hole in space ripped open, which he leaped through. Lapis managed to jump in after them before the hole closed and landed out the other side of the hole, in front of Connie's house.  
"Lapis, you followed us?"  
"Well, I thought you might want someone to help you out...you know, in case things don't go well," she replied. Steven smiled wide and went over to knock on the front door, with Lapis right behind him. Lion growled for a moment before stroll onto the lawn and laying down for a nap.  
Connie's father answered the door with Mrs. Maheswaran right behind him.  
"Steven? How did you get here so fast? Connie just called you a minute ago," she questioned.  
"I rode here on Lion," he said matter-of-factly, pointing at Lion. "He's magic."  
"Right, well come on in." Steven and Lapis stepped inside and looked around. "Connie and...what was it...Topaz? They're in the living room." Steven ran for the living room and found Connie conversing with Gem on the couch.  
"So then, we swung the sword at the fireball and launched it right back at the robot thing. The fireball went right back inside the robot and it blew up!" Connie told her rather excitedly.  
The Gem laughed softly. "Well, it sounds like you've been through quite a few rough times, doesn't it?"  
"Hi, Connie," Steven called out.  
"Oh hey, Steven, I'm so glad you could make it. Let me introduce you to Topaz. You know that necklace we found on the beach? Turns out that the gem attached to the chain was...well...a Gem!"  
"That's so cool! It's like we're Gem magnets!"  
Topaz and Connie laughed. "So I assume this is Steven Universe?" Topaz asked. Connie nodded with a goofy smile on her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Steven. Oh, and who might you be, fellow Gem?"  
Lapis seemed a little taken back by Topaz's formal words and polite attitude. "Lapis...Lazuli," she answered slowly.  
"Ah, Connie's told me about you as well, Lapis. You were trapped in a mirror for many long years and when Steven freed you, you used the ocean along the shores of the neighboring city in hopes of reaching Homeworld. Steven healed your gem and you returned the waters of the ocean and flew off. However, it sounds like you've had quite a hard time even after all that." Topaz lifted herself off the couch and walked over to Lapis with a sympathetic smile. "I can't imagine the pain you've experienced, Lapis. But you're with friends now, so there's more good things in store for you."  
Lapis managed a smile and nodded her head. Steven smiled too and hugged Lapis. "So you're Topaz, huh?"  
"That's correct, Steven," she answered. "I'm the right hand of Yellow Diamond. Or...at least, I was, but I was retired forcefully for showing sympathy towards other races."  
"That's horrible!"  
"Yes, I suppose so, Steven, but perhaps it's better this way."  
"Alright, alright, now, I think that's enough chit-chat for tonight," Mr. Maheswaran said, breaking up the conversation. "Connie needs to get back to bed and it is very late. Ms...Topaz, was it? Do you have anywhere to stay?"  
"I'm afraid not, good sir."  
"Right, well then, I guess you can stay the night tonight."  
"Your hospitality is most appreciated."  
"Ooh, ooh, Mr. and Mrs. Maheswaran, can me and Lapis stay the night too?" Steven asked. Connie's parents looked at each other for a moment and looked at Steven's hopeful eyes and groaned.  
"Oh okay then," Mrs. Maheswaran said, "Just don't be noisy. We've had enough excitement for one night." Steven high-fived Connie and jumped for joy, making Lapis and Topaz smile and snicker.

X-

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness," Pearl spazzed. "Steven went off to Connie's without us to encounter a Gem we don't even know. What was he thinking?"  
Amethyst and Garnet exchanged glances before Garnet said, "Pearl, Steven was riding Lion and Lapis followed him as well. With both of them, he's well protected. You don't have to worry."  
"Garnet's got a point, P, just chill out. I'm sure Steven will be back soon," Amethyst agreed.  
Garnet's reasoning had calmed Pearl down a bit, but she remained concerned. However, she would have to worry about herself for a bit.  
A familiar and unpleasant voice broke out, yelling, "I'm back, you runts!"

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry for the wait, everyone. The absence I had to get all the stuff I had left for High School done was a doozy that got me out of the groove of writing my fanfics for a bit. However, thanks to the latest Steven Universe episode "Sworn to the Sword," I was motivated to get back to work, at least on this story.**  
**In actuality, this chapter was meant to take a much more drastic turn with Topaz being unstable, but instead it went in this direction. To be honest, I think this version is much better. Once this story is complete, I'll post a summary of what the original concept of this story was supposed to be like.**

**Anyways, that's all for now. Until next time,**

**This is Reploid7,**

**Signing Off!**


End file.
